Nintendo recently did a Direct solely for upcoming paint 'em up Splatoon as well as hosting the Global Testfire, which was an online multiplayer demo in the games Turf Wars game type, but how does it play?

Global Testfire Demo

The Testfire Demo was a one day only event, if you was lucky enough to be around your Wii U on Saturday 9th of May you could have dropped in for some Turf Wars action, if not, you won't have long to wait until the game comes out on May 29th.

During the demo, after choosing your gender, skin and eye colour on your Inkling, you was then given the option to select your weapon of which there were four available, the Splattershot and Splattershot Jr, two rapid fire weapons akin to sub machine guns, the Splat Roller which is a giant sized paint roller which is excellent at gaining ground coverage with, and the Splat Charger, a sniper rifle style weapon that you need to charge before firing. As well as your main weapon, each class had a set of sub weapons which ranged from paint grenades to paint proximity mines.

Grab your paint and roll out!

After selecting your loadout you would be put into a lobby of random people and the game starts up, I had difficulty connecting to other players a couple of times but overall it worked perfectly. All the action took place on two different maps that were selected at random, Walleye Warehouse which is a large open area with side corridors to sneak around the back of the enemy team, and Saltspray Rig, which was like an oil pumping station in the middle of the ocean. Both stages had large areas for you to conquer, covering these areas with paint really was the key to victory.

One of the things that is really different about Splatoon is that you don't need to kill players on the other team, as you only earn points for the paint you spread on the floor. While you don't get any bonus points for shooting each other, is does give you a few extra seconds to paint more ground to secure a win, at least until the respawning enemy super jump across the maps to help out their team mates. I've got to say it gives a fresh new take on the shooting genre and really switches up the competitive aspect.

Depending on how you played you would earn points at the end of the 3 minute game session, in the full game you can use these points to customise your Inkling but the demo had none of these features in it. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what sort of outfit I can create when the full game arrives at the end of the month.

Direct

If you didn't get the chance to play in the Global Testfire, maybe check out the Direct below to see what you missed out on. Don't have half an hour to spare then we have you covered! The Direct was slightly different from previous announcements, presented as a sort of documentary about the Inklings in the game.

Inkopolis

Inkopolis is the hub world that connects all the different stores where you can purchase customisation items for your Inkling, it's also the gateway to online multiplayer as well as the single player story mode. There's also a number of stores in the plaza where you can customise your Inkling with tops, hats, glasses and shoes. As well as being cosmetic, some gear can also provide you with bonus stat effects. Using the same gear will unlock more slots to add special abilities to your outfit depending on it's star rating. Each piece of clothing can have up to a 4 star rating, with higher star counts you'll have more slots to start with. There's also a vendor where you can add extra slots to your gear but it comes at a premium cost which is explained below in the Splatfest section.

Jet Set Radiooooh wait, wrong city

Weapons
Weapons come in three different types, the Shooters for rapid fire, the Charger named as they need to be charged before they can be fired, these are best for long distance firing and finally the Roller for up close squashing enemies and maximum paint coverage. As well as main weapons, you also get sub weapons, these can be in the form of paint grenades, proximity mines and other strange gadgets for spraying paint around. Using either Main or Sub weapon will use up your ink so you need to keep your tank topped up by switching between Squid and Inkling form often. The final part of your loadout is the Special Weapon, they can only be used once you've filled up a gauge by covering the ground in ink. These super powerful weapons can cause massive inky damage to anyone caught in their path!

Single Player
Entering the sewer system, you can go to a world underneath Inkopolis and battle the Ocatrians, here you are tasked with different missions such as rescue missions or wiping out an area of Ocatrians which come in a large variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are small Octopi on sentry watch, other times they are much larger boss battles. During this mode you can also collect Power Eggs, which you use as currency to power up your weapons. There is also one secret item known as the Sunken Scrolls on every level, collecting these will give you more backstory on the Inklings and their world.

Battle Dojo
This is a two player game for some local deathmatch, one player uses the Gamepad and the second player uses a controller and TV. Dropping you into one the games maps, you run about trying to pop as many balloons as possible before time runs out. Popping balloons will earn you one point and taking out your enemy will drop a point from your score. When there's only 1 minute left on the clock, all the points are doubled which can turn the tides of battle. This is also a great way to learn the layout of all the game arenas.

Oh these plastic toys again!

Amiibos
It wouldn't be a Direct without more Amiibo news, provided you can find some of these in shops, you can scan in three different Splatoon Amiibos. A boy Inkling, a girl Inkling and Squid Amiibo will be released alongside the game, each will offer you 20 different bonus missions to take on for special customisation gear.Online
Inkopolis Tower is your gateway to Online mode, where there are 2 different modes to go into on Online mode. Regular Battles offers the Turf War game type which is explained above in the Global Testfire section. In this mode you can easily join up with your friends but due to the teams being mixed up after every game, you may up as friends or foes.

Ranked Battle offers different gametypes from Regular Turf Wars. Splat Zone is a king of the hill type game, which ever team can hold onto a specific area for the longest will win the match. In Ranked Battles you will be graded on your skill level with ranks ranging from C- to A+, this way you'll be paired up with players at your level. Ranked battle will only unlock once you, and a large portion of players hit level 10.

There will also be a number of free updates throughout the summer which will add more maps, more weapons and even more gear. As well as this there will be new gametypes available in Ranked Battles keeping players on their toes and keep the gameplay ever changing.

Splatfest
Remember the premium items I mentioned in the Inkopolis section? Well this is where you can win those items, during different events you can win a special item called the Super Sea Snail. The first Splatfest tournament will take place between the 20th and 21st on June, the first theme for this battle is do you prefer cats or dogs? Pick your side and win some games, the side with the most wins across all players will win some Super Sea Snails. Splatfest should take place on a regular basis so if you don't win this one, there should be plenty of chances to get your hands on those premium prizes!

You can watch the full Direct here:

What did you think of the latest Direct? Did you get to try out the Global Testfire for yourself? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on twitter @ChaosRiotZero